The Golden Crop Half A Century Ago

Balachander's Apoorva Raagangal (Rare Melodies) is a landmark Tamil film often cited for being the breakthrough lead role for Kamal Haasan, the debut vehicle for Rajinikanth and the bearer of one of the most melodic soundtracks of Indian cinema.

- NAMRATA JOSHI

What's more, it's a milestone in radically positing that love knows no barriers of age.

The film completes 50 years this August 15, the day that saw the release of one of the most commercially successful Indian films, Ramesh Sippy's Sholay. While this much mythologized film will expectedly be the cause of many celebrations this year, it would be appropriate to also acknowledge the other cinematic saplings born that year that have grown in relevance since.

While 1957 is often called the high point in Indian cinema's golden age, 1975 was noteworthy in its own way. If it signaled a turning point in Tamil cinema with the arrival of a new generation of accomplished male stars, to eventually take the baton from Sivaji Ganesan and M G Ramachandran, filmmakers like Balachander and later Bharathiraja made mainstream Tamil cinema soar to new heights in the following years.

In Telugu cinema, 1975 marked the continued domination of N T Rama Rao. However, Dasari Narayan Rao's Balipeetam is a significant pick from the year's crop, exploring the still-relevant issue of tensions in an inter-caste marriage between a Dalit boy and a Brahmin girl.